Amex Credit Cards have come a long way in India. They are one of the best credit cards in India and worldwide. A lot has been said about their concierge and service. However, this guide is related to “Benefits of Amex Credit Card”, including how to maximize your points, its transfer partners and much more. We are not reviewing credit cards but informing you about aspects of Amex and how you can use them to make the most out of Amex Credit Cards in India.
Type of Amex Cards
There are two types of Amex Cards: Credit Cards and Charge Cards. The Charge Cards do not come with a spending limit. But recently, an internal limit of INR 10 Lacs has been set on charge cards. Apart from that, they are similar to standard Credit Cards.
Cities where you can apply for an Amex Card
Not all cities are eligible for applying for an Amex Card. You can apply for Amex Cards from the below cities:
| North | South | West | East |
| Chandigarh | Bangalore | Indore | Bhubaneswar |
| Delhi/NCR | Chennai | Bhopal | Kolkata |
| Gurgaon | Coimbatore | Mumbai | Vijayawada |
| Noida | Ernakulam | Pune | Vizag |
| Jaipur | Hyderabad | Surat | Cuttack |
| Ludhiana | Trivandrum | Vadodara | |
| Lucknow | Mysore | Nagpur | |
| Cochin | Nashik | ||
| Kanchipuram | Ahmedabad |
Although the list is extensive, particular pin-code may not be serviceable.
List of Amex Credit Cards in India
Amex has the most straightforward yet powerful list of credit cards. Right now (Jan’23), there are 6 Amex Credit Cards in India.
These six credit cards are:
- American Express Platinum Credit Card
- American Express SmartEarn Credit Card
- American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card
- American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card
- American Express Gold Credit Card
- American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card
Fees and Welcome Benefits
The Annual fees on Amex Credit Cards are among the highest in India. But these high fees are well compensated by the welcome benefits and sometimes renewal benefits.
This is how much annual fees you need to pay and the welcome benefits you get:
| Credit Cards | 1st Year Fee | 2nd Year & Later Fees | Welcome Benefits |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | INR 60000 | INR 60000 | Stay vouchers (INR 45,000)* |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | INR 495 | INR 495 | INR 500 Cashback |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | INR 1000 | INR 4500 | 4000 Bonus Points |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | INR 5000 | INR 10000 | 11000 Bonus Points |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | INR 1000 | INR 4500 | 4000 Bonus Points |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | INR 3500 | INR 5000 | 10000 Bonus Points |
Note: If you are upgrading to American Express Platinum Card in an offer, you can receive 1,25,000 Amex Points instead of a stay voucher.
Annual Fees on Add-on Cards
You can also get an Add-on Amex card but with fewer Annual fees.
Here are the Annual Fees and limit on the number of add-on cards on Amex Credit Cards:
| Credit Cards | Standard Fees* | Add-on Fees After Free Add-ons | Free Number of Add-on Cards |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | INR 60000 | INR 10000 | 4 |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | INR 495 | INR 250 | 1 |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | INR 4500 | INR 1500 | 2 |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | INR 10000 | INR 1500 | 4 |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | INR 4500 | INR 1500 | 2 |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | INR 5000 | INR 1500 | 2 |
Note: The fees are for 2nd year and onward.
How to get a waiver for annual fees?
Amex is generous in waving annual fees in return for specific spending from the customer. In some cases, they offer bonus points. You are not likely to return empty-handed after your call with Amex except if your fees are already waived for any reason.
Here is the Card-Wise Default Fee Wavier:
| Credit Cards | Fee Waived on |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | Not Waived |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | Spend of INR 40000 |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | 100% on Spend of INR 1.5 Lacs or 50% on Spend of INR 90K |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | Not Waived |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | Not Waived |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | Not Waived |
Base Points Earning on Amex Cards
Every Amex Credit Card except one has a default reward rate of 1 point for every INR 50 spent, but exclusions apply. Here is the card-wise base earning, spending requirement and exclusions:
| Credit Cards | Points Earned | Amount Spent | Exclusions |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | 1 | INR 40 | Insurance and Utilities |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | 1 | INR 50 | Fuel, Insurance and Utilities |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | 1 | INR 50 | Fuel, Insurance and Utilities |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | 1 | INR 50 | Fuel, Insurance and Utilities |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | 1 | INR 50 | No Exclusions |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | 1 | INR 50 | Fuel, Insurance and Utilities |
Bonus Points Earning on Amex Credit Cards
Bonus Points Earning is unique for every Amex Credit Card in India. If you hold the lowest credit card even, then you can earn bonus points. Here is the Bonus Points feature Amex Credit Card wise:
| Credit Cards | Bonus Points |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | 3x Points on International Spends |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | 10x Points on Flipkart, Amazon, and Uber (500 Max in a month) 5x Points on PayTm wallet, Swiggy, BookMyShow, PVR, Myntra (250 Max in a month) |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | 1000 Bonus Points on 4 Transactions of INR 1500 each in a month, and 1000 Bonus Points on Spend of INR 20k in a month |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | No Bonus Points |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | 1500 Bonus Points on 4 Transactions of INR 1500 each in a month |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | 15000 Bonus Points on Spending INR 1.9 Lacs in a year, and 25000 Bonus Points on Spending INR 4.0 Lacs in a year |
Read: Amex India Current Offers
Fuel Spending: Surcharge Waiver and Points
Amex has a tie-up with HPCL. So, every time you fill up at HPCL and pay with Amex, a 0% fuel surcharge will be levied on transactions less than INR 5000. However, this applies to a maximum monthly fuel spending of INR 25K.
You also earn points on American Express Platinum and Gold Credit Card. In the case of the American Express Platinum Credit Card, you earn 5 points per INR 100 spent, with 4 points credited as bonus points. Whereas Amex Gold Card earns 1 point for every INR 50 spent on Fuel.
Amex Reward Multiplier Points Earning
Reward Multiplier from Amex helps you earn bonus points on every purchase.
This is how many points every card earns:
| Credit Cards | Reward Multiplier Points |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | 5x |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | 2x |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | 2x |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | 3x |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | 5x |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | 3x |
The Maximum of 25000 Bonus points can be earned from the reward multiplier.
Related: 24x Points Offer for Amex Rewards Multiplier.
Lounge Access on Amex Credit Cards
Not all Amex Credit Cards give access to lounges. There are even American Express Lounges worldwide if you don’t know that already.
Here are the card-wise Lounge Access availability and limits:
| Credit Cards | Lounge Access | Limits |
| American Express Platinum Credit Card | Yes | Unlimited |
| American Express SmartEarn Credit Card | No | NA |
| American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card | No | NA |
| American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card | Yes | 12/yr (3 in a Quarter) |
| American Express Gold Credit Card | No | NA |
| American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card | Yes | 8/yr (2 In a Quarter) |
American Express Platinum is the Ultimate Credit Card for Lounge Access worldwide as you can also visit lounge access of some popular airlines such as Lufthansa.
Check here for more details on Amex Lounge Access.
Amex Points Transfer Partners in India
| Partner | Type | Minimum Transfer Points | Get Points | Time Limit | Points Increments |
| Asia Miles | Airlines | 800 Points | 400 Asia Miles | Up to 48 Hrs | 800 |
| British Airways Executive Club | Airlines | 1200 Points | 600 Avios | Up to 48 Hrs | 600 |
| Club Vistara | Airlines | 900 Points | 300 Club Vistara Points | Up to 7 Days | 900 |
| Emirates Skywards | Airlines | 800 Points | 400 Emirates Skywards Miles | Up to 48 Hrs | 800 |
| Etihad Guest | Airlines | 1600 Points | 800 Etihad Guest Miles | Up to 48 Hrs | 800 |
| Hilton Honors | Hotels | 1000 Points | 900 Hilton Points | Up to 48 Hrs | 100 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Hotels | 100 Points | 100 Marriott Bonvoy Points | Up to 48 Hrs | 100 |
| PAYBACK | Others | 1 Point | 1 PAYBACK Points | Up to 48 Hrs | 1 |
| Qatar Privilege Club | Airlines | 500 Points | 250 Avios | Up to 48 Hrs | 100 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | Airlines | 800 Points | 400 KrisFlyer Miles | Up to 48 Hrs | 800 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Airlines | 800 Points | 400 Virgin Points | Up to 48 Hrs | 400 |
Validity of Amex Points
Amex Credit Card points never expire. So, you can accumulate and make a significant transfer while there are transfer offers.
Similar to the Asia Miles Transfer offer or Qatar Airways Transfer Bonus.
Redemption of Rewards Points
You can use the points earned in four ways:
- Use to pay for charges or spending
- Use on Amex Travel Online Portal
- Use by transferring Points
- Use on 18 or 24 Karat Collections
The value of one point for paying charges differs on amex credit cards. For Example, the Amex MRCC credit card has INR 0.25, and the Amex Travel credit card has INR 0.3 value per point. The Maximum value of INR 0.45 per point is for Amex Platinum Card.
Amex 18K and 24K Gold Collections
Amex has 18000 Karat and 24000 Karat Gold collections. These collections are available only on two Amex cards. You can get these collections with the following cards:
- American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card
- American Express Gold Credit Card
18000 Points or 18 Karat Collections
You can use your 18000 points for 18 karat collections and choose any one of the following:
- Taj voucher worth INR 9,000
- Shoppers Stop voucher worth INR 8,000
- Myntra voucher worth INR 8,000
- Big Basket voucher worth INR 8,000
- Amazon voucher worth INR 7,000
- Croma voucher worth INR 7,000
- Flipkart voucher worth INR 7,000
At a maximum voucher of INR 9000, you get INR 0.5 value per point.
24000 Points or 24 Karat Collections
You can use your 24000 points for 24 karat collections and choose any one of the following:
- Taj voucher worth INR 14,000
- Shoppers Stop voucher worth INR 11,000
- Vistara voucher worth INR 11,000
- Tanishq voucher worth INR 10,000
- Amazon voucher worth INR 9,000
- Croma voucher worth INR 9,000
- Flipkart voucher worth INR 9,000
At a maximum voucher of INR 14000, you get INR 0.58 value per point.
Can you get 18k & 24K collections with other Amex Cards?
Yes and No! You can combine points from two credit cards, and if anyone of your card is the card whose points you can use for these collections, then you can use these pooled points. So, there is an indirect way to use your other card for 18K and 24K collections.
Bottomline
Amex Credit Cards in India fit the bills for almost all types of consumers. A fantastic thing about Amex is that you can earn many points and even use these points effectively. These points can easily be transferred to other partners with a decent conversion ratio, even for low-end cards. If you can’t get your hands on a premium card, having an Amex Card is worth having.
